Bio
Anh Vu is a cinematographer based out of Brooklyn. He spent the first ten years of his life in Hanoi, Vietnam. During those early years, Vu's mother taught him to be aware and appreciate other cultures in addition to his own. She set up movie nights to introduce him to a vast array of cinema - Viet dramas, Hong Kong & Chinese cinema, and of course a multitude of Western cinema as well.
This inclination toward seeing and watching proved to be useful for his survival in the States. Without English for the first couple of years, learning by watching was simply the best way to go about it. His habit of consuming all kinds of media and entertainment had another perk: he was able to pick up pop culture quickly and efficiently, and by doing so, by the time he could communicate in English, he already had ideas to exchange to make friends.
Despite all of his media watching, filmmaking and Vu wouldn’t cross paths until he got to the University of Pittsburgh. As his first year drew to a close, a career in STEM did not appeal to him. He ultimately gravitated towards his interests in the arts through his background in choir, plays, and musical theater. Suffice to say, when he discovered filmmaking was an area of study and the Director of Photography a position, it seemed like a no brainer. The possibility of combining his technical side with his artistic swept him off his feet. From that moment, he sought out anything and everything that allowed him the chance to be behind the viewfinder, be it journalism, live event recordings, or student short films. Even before he graduated, he was already freelancing as much as possible.
Soon after graduating, Vu made his move to New York to see if pursuing film in a larger market made sense for him. Thus began a very nomadic chapter in Vu's life - he lived out of his car to remain mobile while taking on various roles around New York in order to be closer to more experienced cinematographers. This plan panned out as he trek through snowy weather with the award winning period drama Breaking the Silence, or run with the tight knit doc crew of Winters Rock Entertainment as they profile a famous MMA fighter down in DC. With DP as an end goal, Vu always kept an eye out, and in 2019 an opportunity from Pittsburgh came knocking. This was the short Thanks to Her that had received over 1.6 million views after it was released on YouTube. It inspired the producing team to launch a Kickstarter campaign in 2021 that ultimately was successful and allowed Vu the opportunity to take on an indie feature that summer. After principle photography for Thanks to Her was done, Vu headed back to New York to resume other DP and gaffing projects